2008

Senior Year, High School

“Finally in the same class Lina! How excited are you~?”

“Aish, Cheolyong-ah! Don’t even think of bothering me if you’re sitting next to me, understand?”

“Yah~ Why are you talking like this to your best friend, hmm?”

“Because I know how you can be in class, pabo. I don’t want to become one too~”

Pulling her tongue to the boy, she giggled as she backed away from him, leaving him to pout like a child as he turned back to face his desk with his arms crossed over his chest; Lina turned her head to glance at him and chuckled at her sight while shaking her head in disbelief.

“You’re such a baby sometimes, it’s unbelievable. You’re suppose to be 17! What’s with that puppy face?”

“Now you think I look like a puppy?!”

“You’ve always looked like that~”

“Ugh! You’re breaking my heart Lina!” The playful response got her to laugh as she tried to muffle the sound with her hands over before stopping Cheolyong with his act.

He grinned at her brightened up face and ruffled her hair earning a glare from her as she fixed herself up.

“You know I hate it when you do this~ Why do you keep doing it?”

“Because I like it!” Looking proud at his response, she playfully punched him on his arm making him hiss as he covered the numbing spot with his other hand while shifting in his seat, pretending to be scared by her strength. “You hit me!”

“You deserved it.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

He was about to speak up when they were interrupted by one of the boy’s friend as he stood in front of their desk, eyeing Lina before looking at Cheolyong.

“Bang Cheolyong~ Who knew you’d still be hanging out with her? Just ditch her and come with us-”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Aish, come on~ All your friends are waiting-”

“I said I’m fine.” Glancing at his lap, she saw how he was starting to get irritated by the way his hands were clutching tightly onto his pants; she quietly placed her hand above his as she softly the back without looking at him.

He soon calmed down as he let out a deep breath but still glared at the boy in front of him. “It’s such a shame though -”

He was about to go on when they heard the door of the classroom slid open to reveal their teacher coming in; the student left, leaving Cheolyong to finally breathe properly. He looked down at their hold and placed his other hand over hers as he let out a small smile; she squeezed his hand in reassurance as she turned her head to look at him, replying to that grin.

“I’m sorry they’re still doing this to you… Who knew that even after five years they just won’t leave you alone.”

“It’s okay; I’m used to it by now-”

“But you shouldn’t deal with this… Lina… I hate how its affecting you, I can see that it’s bothering you.”

“At least you’re here, right?”

“Mhmm, of course.”

From there, they spent their morning hours going through class by class until lunch time came and as a new tradition between them since they started high school, they would go and eat outside enjoying the warmth of the spring season under the shadows of the tree in the school’s yard.

They were on their way at their usual spot when Lina had the urge to ask him a question that still left her confused even after all these years of friendship.

“Cheolyong?”

“Hmm?”

“Why… Why don’t you hang out with your other friends?”

He stopped in his tracks as he looked at her with a slight frown appearing across his face. “You don’t want me?”

“It’s not that, it’s just… I like having you as my friend, don’t get me wrong, its just… You used to have friends before me-”

“And these are the same people that aren’t treating you right. I don’t want to hang out with them-”

“Because of me?”

“And plus… I’d feel like I would betray you…”

The last part of his answer caught her by surprise, leaving her breath cut short for a moment as she looked at him with clear shock in her eyes. The surprise turned into a shy smile as she turned away to look in front of her while she bit her bottom lip.

Even after five years, it still felt new to her and it would always leave butterflies in her stomach; she doesn’t remember being this happy and this all happened when she finally accepted his friend request after promising her he would take good care of her and true to his words, he was.

Something she was grateful about.

She turned around to face him and quickly planted a small peck on his cheek, earning him to look back, taken off guard by her sudden gesture; she pulled away with a smile on her face and went back to her walk while leaving him behind. He placed his hand over the kissed cheek as he watched her walk away; a shy grin appeared on his face when the sudden pounding of his heart caught his attention.

She turned around and called him breaking him out of his daze as he ran to catch up to her and lazily placed his arms around her shoulders before ruffling her hair.

“Yah! I told you not to do that! Do you want me to punch you again?”

“Oh come on~ your hair is perfectly fine!”

She pulled her tongue out through her pouted lips before turning away as they had finally arrived; they noticed that the bench that used to be here had suddenly disappeared.

“Should we move somewhere else?” Lina looked back at the boy as she waited for his response while he simply shrugged and kept walking. “I don’t think we need too; we still have that tree, right?”

“But… Ch-Cheolyong, how am I going to sit down?”

“I’ll help you silly~”

He grabbed onto her and helped her get comfortable on the grass before he followed suit and placed his lunch bag in front of him with a sigh of relief coming out of his mouth. One glance at him and Lina let out a quiet giggle as she shook her head; he turned his head to look at her and got her profile in his sight; that one view made his heart suddenly jump against his chest, catching his attention once again.

Feeling the stare, she turned back at him and slightly tilted her head to the side with a slight curious look. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.”

They went back to their meal as they spent the hour with random subjects of conversation and before they knew it they were already done and packing up. As Cheolyong got up on his feet, Lina stretched out her arms so he could help her back up; the sly grin on his face left her confused for just a second only to find herself being lifted up in his arms with a quick squeal coming out of her as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck to hold herself.

The boy laughed at her reaction before turning his face to look at her while she was hiding in the crook of his neck. “Put me down, please~”

“It’s more fun if I bring you back like this.”

“No~ I’m not your bride!”

The childish tone in her voice made him chuckle once again. As she was pulling her face away to look at him, his laughter soon disappeared as he caught himself looking straight into her eyes, feeling his heart beat up a pace as it kept strongly hitting his chest with the blood rushing through his veins.

She looked at him with a hint of innocence in her eyes as her bottom lip was slightly stuck out. He glanced at it before staring back up at her in a complete daze, feeling like he was starting to lose himself.

She kept looking at him until she tapped the tip of his nose with her finger, bringing him back into reality.

“Can you put me down please?”

“O-oh, yea… Sorry.”

“Are you okay? You seemed distracted.”

“Yea, I was just thinking about something.”

She nodded her head as she grabbed onto her cane that was leaning against the tree and turned back to let him know that they needed to get back to class.

They silently walked back with Cheolyong lost in his thoughts as he could still sense that strange feeling inside his stomach whenever he would replay the previous moment with Lina in his arms; placing his hand over his chest, his heart was still rapidly beating and it left him to wonder why it was being like this and why so suddenly.

“You’re doing it again~”

“Huh?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am, I promise.”

“Okay… If you say so~”

She walked first back into their classroom with the boy standing by the entrance as he watched her take back her seat at the end of the room, by the window. The light from the sun was shining through the glass as it hit a few desks around him and Lina in the process; the sight got to his lungs as his breath was cut short.

The sudden thought about her kiss crept back up in his mind and it left him in awe; a part of him knew that she did it just because it was a way to thank him, but the other part inside of him couldn’t help but wish that it meant something different.

It was hitting him out of nowhere and he didn’t even know how to handle it; he was seeing her in a new light and it got to him with the swirling in his stomach getting stronger.

A/N: Aww~ he has a crush! :3

Hehe, such a sweetheart, isn't he? ^
^